Hagersville Streetscape Plan

Historical Context 1
The land that Haldimand County now occupies was acquired by
treaty in 1832. By 1850 Haldimand had county status, with the
local government centred in Cayuga. Settlement of Hagersville
began in the early 1840s. The settlement was named after Charles
Hager, who in 1846 purchased 120 acres of land from Samuel
Jarvis, the Secretary‐Registrar of Upper Canada at the time.
The initiating factor for the settlement of Hagersville was the
construction of the road linking Hamilton to Port Dover which
began in 1839 (eventually named the Hamilton‐Port Dover Road
and ultimately in the general location of the current Highway 6).
This “Plank Road”, made of large wooden planks, opened up the
wilderness that would become Hagersville to settlement and
agriculture. What is now the King Street and Main Street
intersection was a toll location along the route that featured large
oak toll gates.
Hagersville originated as a service centre at the intersection of
Indian Line (King Street) and Plank Road (Main Street), featuring
an assortment of general stores, accommodations, and a post
office, among other uses. Hagersville prospered and grew
significantly with the establishment of the Canada South Railway
in 1870 and the Hamilton Lake Railway in 1873. These advances
resulted in Hagersville becoming a permanent service centre and
growing settlement. The farmers market began in 1892 in
generally what is its current location.
1 Summary presented in Historical Context and images are from “Down
Memory Lane: A Glimpse of Hagersville’s Past” by Don Brown, 1992.
Hagersville Streetscape Plan
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